


Making a Family

by j_apollo



Series: Fills for Avengers-Land [8]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Families of Choice, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-01
Updated: 2012-07-01
Packaged: 2017-11-08 23:19:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/448664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/j_apollo/pseuds/j_apollo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The best families are those that you make yourself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making a Family

Bruce was hesitant to move into the Tower and there were plenty of reasons why he shouldn’t, not least of all the Other Guy, but Tony is a force of nature and a little too used to getting his way so he moves in. Tony tries to give him a whole floor to himself, but for all that Bruce has been seeking space the last few years, a whole floor is too much space all of a sudden. So he has a bedroom a few doors down from Tony, and a lab space that verges on ridiculous.

The first time he goes into Tony’s space the loud music makes the Other Guy do the virtual equivalent of covering his ears with his hands, but Bruce finds it soothing in a way because the music fits with Tony’s personality. He’s not really there for any particular reason, except that he wants some human company. Dummy wanders over waving a blender filled with green gunk, and his brakes must not be working very well because he only stops when he’s effectively stepping on Bruce’s toes. The blender is waved in his face, and Bruce has to take it, if only to stop Dummy from making plaintive noises at him. He fakes taking a sip, before putting the blender in the sink and then wanders to sit on the incredibly comfy couch - he has several research articles that he needs to ~~savage~~ read. Tony had looked up when he came in, but he is now absorbed in his work again. They work for hours in a comfortable silence. 

One morning, Bruce stumbles into the kitchen idly scratching his stomach, making a beeline for the incredibly fancy coffee machine that heats water to the perfect temperature for his herbal tea. He jams his mug in the machine and as the water is being dispensed he gets the feeling that somebody is watching him. He turns around, almost knocking the mug of boiling water over, and lets out an unfortunately high pitched shriek. He feel’s justified in doing so, because Natasha is standing less than two feet away from him, not a single hair out of place and one eyebrow arched imperiously. She doesn’t say anything, but simply sweeps out the room, the very definition of elegance, and Bruce is sure that she is laughing at him inside. The next morning she surprises him again, but then Tony walks in and almost jumps a foot in the air at her presence, so Bruce feels a lot better. Apparently she’s moved in, and if Tony has any problem with that he can take it up with Pepper as Natasha says before leaving to go do spy stuff. Tony’s splutters about him being the boss of the house follow her out, and Bruce hides a smile in his mug of tea. Life just got a little more interesting. 

It’s a week later and Bruce is getting his tea again when he feels the sensation of somebody watching him, but it doesn’t feel like Natasha, nor does it feel dangerous, and Bruce wanders if this is what going insane is like – being able to distinguish the different flavours of being watched without any effort. He looks around the kitchen and doesn’t see anything, so he just shrugs and turns back to the coffee machine, which now has a plastic arrow stuck to it. He sighs and looks around the kitchen again, this time looking on top of all the various counters, cupboards and appliances. Clint is crouched on the top of the fridge in a position that looks uncomfortable to Bruce’s eyes, and he is holding a nerf gun. He reminds Bruce more of a twelve year old than a master assassin. Seeing that he has been spotted Clint somersaults gracefully off the fridge, with form that would make any gymnast jealous. He steals one of the bagels Bruce had been slathering with cream cheese, salutes lazily and saunters out of the kitchen. Bruce just shakes his head in amusement, it looks like Tony has acquired another stray. 

Unlike the other two, Steve actually asks whether he can move in, but he does it in such a way that there is no way that Tony can say no. Bruce watched the whole thing happen, and he had to admit, the Captain was definitely a master tactician. Early one morning, when Tony and Bruce were getting coffee and tea respectively after pulling all-nighters in the pursuit of science, Steve ambushed Tony, ostensibly to drop off paperwork on behalf of Agent Coulson. Steve made idle conversation while Tony was getting coffee, and Tony responded with grunts that might eventually turn into words, until Steve asked if he could move in since everybody else was living there already. Tony spluttered and was on the verge of saying no, because he was still at the stage of pulling Steve’s metaphorical pigtails and pretending that he didn’t like him, but Steve looked at him with big blue eyes and the barest hint of a pout on his face, and Tony just deflated. Tony walked out muttering under his breath, and Bruce outright laughed before raising a fist in Steve’s direction. The baffled look Steve gave him just made Bruce laugh harder, fist bumps clearly weren’t on SHIELD’s curriculum for getting Steve used to the modern era. 

Thor doesn’t move into the Tower quietly, but then there are very few things that Thor does quietly. There is a massive thunderstorm outside, and Bruce isn’t certain whether Thor has created this storm for dramatic effect or if it’s just a lucky coincidence. Everybody living in the Tower is gathered in the movie room watching a terrible horror film when there is a flash of lightning and a loud rumble of thunder, and suddenly Thor is standing in front of the television booming his greetings. Tony and Clint shriek in unison and end up clutching at Steve and Natasha respectively. Bruce laughs, and the Other Guy laughs along with him and something inside him just relaxes. 

They’re all living in the tower, and there is very rarely a quiet moment, but Bruce is okay with that, and with every day that passes, the thought of leaving fades a little more. 

It’s Thanksgiving, and none of them have any family to go home to, so they’ve decided to have a Thanksgiving feast in the Tower, despite the fact that Bruce is the only one who can cook. He supervises the kitchen and after about eight hours of solid work they have a respectable feast, which is only a little burnt. It’s when he’s sitting at the table laughing after he has stuffed himself that he realises, this is his family, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.


End file.
